40 IN PR.AISE- OF ANTONIONI They travelled lIke a blue pencil against the stars defining lopsided circles they travelled together like a postcard like that she had no exact home no trauma to address on her manIla lea ves as she cried daily the stubborn wIsh coming back the bandit tugging her satin elbows onl} another mansion iceberg warnings across the canal mannikin check silhouette a drunk teetering under the lanterns only a peevish change of heart sham of wig dress style only her love was responsible and undecIded undulating along a troubled coast with baggage-fatigue the gulls omInous maybe he swore muttered confessed gesturing sheepishly to the islands she was fresh from the grounds father never asked after theIr explanations a bowed nun Interrupted recessing the belltower steps to pray stooped beside the abbey's peeling frescoes a worn matron glo"\\Tered at their privilege uneasy and shamed makeshift tourists at a stopover quarter conspicuously arrogant and sloppy like his extravagance itnpatient he monitored the ticker and complained vvhitewashed constructions decomposed the horizon a cold pile of salt blocks in the alarmed weather she shivered he swept her up suddenly out of bed and exclaimed it was then just only then that for that purpose lazy curtains billowed far away a train terminal bells floating her to him safely his hair oil his leather his pungency his mouth by her lobes charming beggar the tiny pink portable radio squawked plopped over brashly she sighed for his luxury humming and combing foreknown the shower curtain slid delicious and indolent o ve r hIS hard back they excited a new feat far away a train terminal bells floating him away to a game room staircase earrings abruptly volcanoes m urm ured of summer and evening through the palms over her bereavement dishevelled sheets curtains pillows carpets garments rumpled hastily loose in the wind asphalt baked fans swept slowly late dusty and urban the window cooled lifting their long ban siesta gong and cocktails a muted interval of calls from the street . of the 7 :40 train to see; since her two watches and every clock in the house needed repairs, it gave verification of the exact time, though this, like the bird feeding, was not really of account to her. It was her glimpses of Rufus that provided her long day with most in- terest. For some years she had regularly watched him through the powerful 7 eiss binoculars from various con- cealed spots. He renewed an interest in studies begun during long-ago trav- els in countries far from Wales, and she often jotted her findings into a house- hold-accounts book kept locked in an old portable escntoire. To her eye, the prognathous jaw, broad nose, and and outward where he goes already keened and silent roughly over the sorrow of her companion she laughed ironIcally to the bare walls the traffic was ravenous rigid squinting he sat hammers pummelling the body the car jerked mangy ogling peasants wet their lips and whistled footmen advanced from the mansion lemon whistles shrilled a tangle of circus streamers fl uttered onto the furnIture the trio redoubled its inertia from the chimneys entertained the lawn feasting lazily by the guesthouse groves no way to end it immobile under the pool statuary feebly looking for it indoors timid lavender paused wiltIng and gracious sea-green blandished haunted eyes and panted weak and greganous the refrain tickled until it ached eventually it came it came for them together thev travelled together like a postcard lIke that raked tousled harrowed it would fail shabbily or persist in unseasonable heat enervating and suave the limousine's anonymous silence over the cleared squared demolition areas she tried to say It often she tried but it evaded her shrugs filtered through arbitrary blondes and brunettes bare sunburned arms extended gracefully for the decanters in the sunset the notes and ribbons and tokens she would fall in the garden wanting him just only that for that purpose aimless sincere and good good for him flaring almost a woman with jealousy wounded stern and brown she would soothe his fickle con fusions orange and brown his face almost predictably exasperated and uncertain his ambition stencilled mouth hard and beloved with willful indifference to the scenery of the bitter fountains all of them he would change she would follow he would complain of their glamor he would change she would follow his parabolas against the stars defining it in the darkness under the searchlights. --STEPHEN HOLDEN . gypsy-black haIr of this heavy-bodied but personable young man bore distinct atavistic elements. He possessed, too, a primitive bloom, which often lingered for years beyond adolescence wIth per- sons of tardy mental development. But this throwback descendant of an an- cient race was also, up to a point, a tri- umph over decadence. Arriving mirac- . U t LET I N " l P I' I ' 't I ÝÍJ -YY;' Ììt I .. /- , ) I ( .. J, :: 1) ... / ,.,! I ,;1 ì ': / ''" ,\"-, \ '- 'I. \ ulously late in his mother's life, after three others born much earlier to the il- literate woman had died in infancy, this last-moment child had flourished phys- icall y, if not in other respects. Except for the occaSIons when, as a boy and youth, he used to come to Plas Iolyn to do odd jobs and run errands, her deductions had been formed entirely through the limited dnd intensify- ing medium of the binoculars. She had come to know all his outdoor habits and activities around the cottage. These were rewardIng only occasionally. The days when she failed to see him seemed bleakly deficient of incident. While daylight lasted, he never bathed in the river wIthout her knowledge, though